In the past, numerous efforts have been made to overcome the shortcomings of various building elements such as bricks, blocks (cinder or cement), and the like. Masonry elements are laid course by course on an appropriate foundation, in one of many standard configurations wherein a course of grout or mortar lies between each row of masonry elements and between each adjacent masonry element. Open mortar joints often adhere poorly to the masonry elements and are relatively porous allowing some water seepage and penetration of the joint. Consequently, the weakest link in masonry construction are the mortar joints, which are a poor barrier to heat, cold and moisture with resulting deterioration of a wall.
The laying of masonry elements as described above requires a degree of skill because the masonry elements must be laid in an even manner and in reasonably straight lines to provide the aesthetic qualities of a well-designed structure such as a wall. In addition the mortar needs to be troweled onto the masonry elements so that there is not an excess of mortar built up between each horizontal and vertically adjacent masonry element, otherwise there is wastage of materials and the aesthetic appeal of the masonry elements may be compromised. Such a process is both time-consuming and costly. Several solutions to these issues have been described.
Pearlman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,808 discloses a masonry element (“wall unit”) having vertically and horizontally offset front and rear faces which form a tongue and groove interlocking means. The masonry elements also have bed-to-bed face passages and header-to-header channels to allow mortar to be poured into the masonry element to rigidly hold the masonry element in place. The specification also discloses corner, end and interior masonry elements. It is important to note that Pearlman's '808 disclosure places no special importance on the outward appearance of the front face of a structure made with Pearlman's masonry elements. Moreover, Pearlman's masonry elements in the '808 disclosure are blocks rather than bricks, where it is common for adjacent masonry elements to have almost no mortar showing.
Storer-Folt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,797 discloses a masonry system in which specially shaped bricks are dry-stacked and subsequently bonded by pouring mortar or grout into apertures in the bricks. The bricks have alignment projections extending from the bottom bed faces which register with alignment grooves in the top bed faces of the lower bricks to align the upper bricks before bonding. The projections and grooves define a recess to admit mortar between adjacent brick faces. The bricks also have recesses in the header faces to admit mortar between adjacent header faces. The front faces of the bricks are contoured to create the appearance of mortar joints when the bricks are stacked. It is important to note that the masonry system of Storer-Folt's '797 disclosure only provides for direct interlocking in a bottom face to a top face mode.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to provide novel interlocking masonry articles and improved construction methods to readily form continuous wall sections with mortar-less joints that have the appearance of mortared joints. The inventor of this application has discovered improved masonry articles where interlocking of the masonry articles occurs in a top face to bottom face mode, as well as providing for tongue and groove interlocking in adjacent masonry articles. Moreover, in this inventor's improved masonry articles, the outward appearance of the front face of a structure made with these masonry articles conforms to a brick and mortar or block and mortar configuration. This inventor's improved masonry articles provide for simple and efficient assembly including the ability to adjust side-by-side placement of masonry articles to correct length mismatches while laying a structure.